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Alec Holland (New Earth)
The Swamp Thing has complete mastery over all forms of plant life and can command vegetative matter to do his bidding. Through this power, he is in constant communication with the very essence of the Earth, and serves as the Plant Elemental for the entire planet. In the past Alec Holland has gained access to other elemental powers. At one point gaining control over earth, water, air, and fire in addition to that of plantlife. However, often almost immediatly gaining control over all of them, giving up all but his connection to the Green. The Swamp Thing's strength level is directly tied to his connection to the Earth. Occupying his most commonly used body, the Swamp Thing is capable of lifting volumes of mass many times greater than his own body weight. With additional power supplied to him by The Green, his ultimate strength level is nearly incalculable. Theoretically so long as there is some vestige of plant life on the planet Earth, Alec Holland will always have a vehicle through which to house his consciousness, thus rendering him effectively immortal. The Swamp Thing houses his conscious mind inside of a faux body made up of compacted flora and vegetative material. At will, he can abandon this host form and take up residence inside of another shell. Even if the body he is currently occupying is destroyed, Alec's mind lives on and will reconstitute itself in a newly grown swamp-form. The Swamp Thing operated for several years before he even became aware of this ability. Eventually, it was the occultist John Constantine who revealed Alec's Elemental nature to him, and instructed in the ways of reconstituting a new body. Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #37 The ability to commune with plantlife and to varying degrees control its growth and form. Summon forth vines to entangle or snare, and so on. A master of this ability can manipulate the microscopic algae inside of a person's body and use it to attack them from the inside out. The ability to nourish oneself, typically via an external energy source. In Swamp Thing's case, likely through a form of photosynthesis. | Abilities = Chemist: Brilliant Chemist Biologist: Brilliant Biologist | Strength = As the Swamp Thing, Alec Holland possesses superhuman strength (See Powers); As a human being, Alec Holland possessed the strength level of a man his age, size and weight who engaged in moderate regular exercise | Weaknesses = Pollution: pollution is highly dangerous to the plant life that makes up his body and the plant life he is connected to. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = * The character of the Swamp Thing was created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. * Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe XXII erroneously establishes that Swamp Thing's first appearance was in ''House of Secrets (Volume 1)'' #92. However, this version of the Swamp Thing was Alex Olsen, a scientist who was transformed into a muck-monster nearly one-hundred years prior to Alec Holland's ill-fated experiments. Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson re-envisioned their own creation for the modern era and introduced the Swamp Thing as Alec Holland in ''Swamp Thing (Volume 1)'' #1. Writer Alan Moore later revisited the Olsen character in ''Swamp Thing (Volume 2)'' #33, and established him in canon continuity as a previous, yet separate incarnation of the Swamp Thing. * Although similar in appearance and origin, the Swamp Thing is not to be confused with the Marvel Comics character known as the Man-Thing. | Trivia = * Different versions of the Swamp Thing have made it to both the big and small screen. Stuntman Dick Durock portrayed the role of the Swamp Thing in the 1982 Wes Craven feature film, Swamp Thing. He reprised the role in the equally campy 1989 sequel, The Return of the Swamp Thing. In 1990, a live-action Swamp Thing television series was produced and Durock was called upon once again to don the green latex. During the second season of the series, Warner Bros. produced a short-lived animated Swamp Thing series. Actor Len Carlson provided the voice for the Swamp Thing. * The Swamp Thing is the only character from the Vertigo family of titles to receive his own Colorforms playset. * A Swamp Thing series of action figures were produced in line with the 1991 ''Swamp Thing'' animated television series. | Recommended = | DC = | Wikipedia = | Links = * Swamp Thing article at Wikipedia * Swamp Thing at Sequart * Swamp Thing at Toonopedia * Swamp Thing at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe * Swamp Thing database at Roots of the Swamp Thing * Swamp Thing Annotations * Swamp Thing movie entry at the Internet Movie Databse (IMDB) * Return of the Swamp Thing movie entry at the Internet Movie Database * Swamp Thing live-action television series at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) * Swamp Thing animated series at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) }} Category:Bio-Fusion Category:Chlorokinesis Category:Elementals Category:Elemental Control Category:Formerly Deceased Category:Gestalt Characters Category:Immortality Category:Parliament of Trees members Category:Regeneration Category:Resurrection Category:Superhuman Strength Category:1972 Character Debuts